Happy (early) birthday, Max!

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Max’s birthday is actually in December, but I’m afraid with all the Christmas chaos, we’ll miss it.  In just a few short months, he has gone from this precious little puppy:

to this.

That smug look in the above photo?  That’s after he swiped Justin’s ENTIRE bacon, egg, and cheese sandwich off the counter.  You snooze, you lose daddy-o.

This dog steals our food, sheds EVERYWHERE, and is sometimes worse that I imagine a 3rd child to be, but we love him with all our hearts.  He is an 80-pound lapdog who doesn’t realize he’s big.  He wants to lay right on top of you, even wrapping his legs/paws around in a dog-hug.

Of all of us, I still think he loves Kyndall the best.  He is her real-life pillow pet, and I am so thankful that a year ago, we brought this puppy home with us!

An interview with K and L….I’m a Project Life flunkie!

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I’ve really been slacking with Project Life layouts lately.  I hope to catch up on that a lot this coming week, and I knew I really wanted to dig deeper into the girls personalities on my summer layouts.  They are both so unique and it blows my mind that these two completely different, perfect children came from Justin and I.

I sat down with the girls and asked them a few random questions, just for fun.  I was pleasantly surprised at some of their answers.

1. If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go? Why?
Kyndall, almost 7:  To Paris.  I want to see the Eiffel Tower.
Libby, almost 5:  To the Himalayas so that I can play in the snow! (Seriously, she knows about the Himalayas?) 

2. If someone gave you one million dollars, what would you spend it on?
Kyndall:  I would buy a car, with a sunroof.  And a house….a cellphone…. OH and a business   that I can be the boss of!  (<–now that was pretty impressive! A business?  Talk about a future investment!)
Libby:  I would buy a new IPod touch, since I lost mine.  And a crown. (<–SO typical of her!)

3.  What is one thing I do that makes you happy?
Kyndall:  I like when you snuggle with me at night and watch TV.
Libby:  When you wear high heels and dress pretty.

4.  What is one thing I do that gets on your nerves?
Kyndall:  I really don’t like when you won’t let me ride my bike.
Libby:  When you give me spankings.

5.  What is your happiest memory?
Kyndall:  Going to DisneyWorld!
Libby:  The time that it snowed a lot and we played and had a snowball fight.  And the time we met TinkerBell at DisneyWorld.

6.  What is your favorite color?
Kyndall:  Green, like yours.
Libby:  Green and pink.

7.  What do you want to be when you grow up?
Kyndall:  A veterinarian, since I love animals.
Libby:  A singer like Taylor Swift.

8.  Who is your best friend?
Kyndall:  Emma and Harrison and Maggie
Libby:  Ellis and Ella

9.  What is your favorite thing to do?
Kyndall:  Go to the zoo.
Libby:  To watch TV with Mommy.

10.  What is the grossest thing you can think of?
Kyndall:  When Daddy cleaned out the drain and pulled all that hair and stuff out.
Libby:  Virus poopoo.

100 Happy Things

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While reading a few of my running blogs, I came across Ali on the Run‘s list of 100 happy things.  I thought it was a GREAT idea, and one I should copy.  This list is a daily work in progress and will be linked on my home page.

The purpose of this list is to help me be consistently aware of the little things that make me happy, and all the reasons I have to smile each day.

  1. Morning snuggles with my girls.
  2. New magazines.
  3. Blog comments.
  4. Nachos.
  5. The perfect fried egg (cooking it, not eating it.)
  6. Stretching.
  7. Competitive running.
  8. Popcorn.
  9. Tacos.
  10. Cookie Dough.
  11. Coffee.
  12. Dr. Pepper.
  13. Fast and Furious movies.
  14. Alex O’Loughlin.
  15. Alex O’Loughlin shirtless.
  16. Early morning runs.
  17. K & L giggles.
  18. Puppy love.
  19. Road trips.
  20. Sunflower seeds.
  21. Sneezing.
  22. Being sore from a really great workout.
  23. Ocean air.
  24. Homemade salsa.
  25. Concerts.
  26. Eating out at a restaurant.
  27. When my girls want to run with me.
  28. Libby’s made-up songs.
  29. Kyndall’s “jokes”.
  30. Yoga.
  31. Music.
  32. Tank tops.
  33. Tattoos.
  34. Pinterest.
  35. Eminem <–the rapper
  36. Blue M&M’s
  37. New crayons
  38. Cheering at sporting events– football, soccer, Nascar
  39. Long conversations with friends
  40. Lunch dates
  41. A really good book
  42. A completed scrapbook layout
  43. An excited Kyndall or Libby 
  44. Thoughtful blog posts

The Post I SHOULD Be Paid to Write (with a little TMI)

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You know how you love sharing with your girlfriends the things that work for you?  Like new makeup, or awesome products, or how you get your kid to stop picking their nose behave in public? I have a few things I have bragged about to my girlfriends lately, so I thought I would share them with you.  Warning:  one (or two) of these posts are fairly personal, so if you are offended by too much information, stop reading this post and watch this video.

Still with me?  Let’s go:

Mederma.  Seriously ya’ll, I have this nasty, humongous, 6-inch long scar on my stomach.  It shows when I wear a swimsuit and makes me self-conscious.  Enter Mederma.  I WISH I had taken before and after photos, because it is nothing short of a miracle.  All I can say is, if you have any sort of scars that you wish were gone, try it.  You’ll be amazed.

Kenra and Joico shampoos and conditioners.  I rotate Joico Body Luxe and Kenra Color Maintenance, but I feel like I could vouch for any style you think would work best for your hair type.  The best part?  Ulta runs these on sale every so often and you can purchase the big bottles (I think they are liters) for $15 each.

No, I’m not reppin’ underarms here.  This is all about laser hair removal.  I cannot say enough about this.  It is awesome.  I can only speak for myself here, because apparently, the laser therapy affects different skin types differently, but I am in love.  Typically, you go for treatments four or five times, once every 6 weeks.  After that, you may or may not have to go for a yearly ‘maintenance’ treatment.  I can say that after my first treatment, I didn’t have to shave for an entire 2 1/2 weeks.  And to me, that is almost worth the money in itself.  And it IS pretty expensive, but permanent hair removal?  I mean, come on!

And that’s it.  What awesome products have you run across lately?

Introducing Max

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I just realized I hadn’t introduced our new family member to blogland yet.  And he has been a part of our family for a whole week already.  So, here is Max:

He is the puppy of a mutt, that we chose to call Spot, who came up to our house when we still lived at the farm.  Spot is some type of bulldog mix.  The girls have completely mistreated Max.  As is evidenced in this photo:

And this one:

Poor thing.  Please don’t call PETA on us.  Max did find my rug very entertaining.
Luckily, it’s an old rug and he can have it as a toy.  Until today, Spot’s puppy-daddy (the daddy of Max) has been unknown.  We weren’t sure what our sweet Max was mixed with.  We knew he was going to be big– I mean, just look at those paws.  And the boy is only 7 weeks old!  We knew he was gonna be cool.  Check out this photo:

But today, we went to the vet.  And based on experience, and measurements, and all that yada-yada, she determined that Max is most likely mixed with Great Pyrenees.  Which means that he will most likely weigh AT LEAST 100 pounds.  Male Great Pyrenees dogs can weigh up to 130 pounds, so this new family member has the potential to outweigh ME!  Wow.

So now, I am super paranoid.  We have GOT to get control of this pup, and make him be very well-mannered, before he gets too big to control.  And I am not the best dog trainer.  So any tips you have are welcomed.

December Daily 2012

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Two years ago, I joined in with Ali to do a scrapbook album titled “December Daily.”  It was really fun, and especially sweet to look back on.  I love that I have that to set out as part of my Christmas decor, and guests can look back on our Christmas memories from 2010.  The concept is that you do a page (or two) per day for the month of December to chronicle all your Christmas memories.  I’m so excited to start this again this year!  I plan to share it here each week.

If you are interested in doing your own December Daily, check out Ali’s information page here.  And then let me know you are participating– I would love to see other ideas!

The pirate and the ghost

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OK I know I’ve already posted a TON of pictures of the girls in their costumes here and here, but I just have to share a few more.  These are mostly of K at school on the actual date of Halloween.  This year, I think the girls had the cutest (and cheapest) costumes they’ve ever had.  We made Libby’s shirt at the boutique, mom made K’s and my tutu and Robin made Libby’s.  
K and I both dressed as pirates.  Last year, I dressed the same as Libby (as an Indian) and K asked that I dress the same as her this year.
My little ghost 🙂

Me and the sister, Mallory– she was Spider Woman.

Carrie and Harrison both dressed as pirates too.  Here are the littles:

And the bigs:

Apparently, a pirate was the thing to be this year 🙂

Four pirates.  This was the best shot I had– our little pirates were too busy to look at the camera for long!

A Miracle at the West House

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Ok, maybe “miracle” is an exaggeration, but any time that you have seven girls together for over FIFTEEN hours with ZERO arguments, that’s gotta be a record.  Right?  Right.

Records aside, the Halloween slumber party went amazingly well.  Better than I could have hoped for.  Three of the girls rode home with us after school and the other two came a little later.  My front entrance-way looked like this:

We went to a Halloween party at my aunt’s house (excellent way to pass the time, by the way) and the girls rode on a hayride and had a blast at the bonfire.  Here they are, all packed into my car and on the way:
Can I just say that we are so very BLESSED that our girls have these sweet girls to grow up with?  What is life without friends, right?  And good ones are hard to find, so I’m so thankful for this crew!

 

Sweet Chaos

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This time in our lives is very chaotic.  It’s good, and it’s fun, but it’s still crazy chaotic.  In all the hustle and bustle of this crazy, chaotic life we are living, I am trying every way that I can to slow down and just be present with the girls.  Even if we are having deep, meaningful conversations in the car.  Or practicing writing our name (Libby) sitting at the soccer field.  I don’t want this time to be lost, or to be remembered as a  big blur.

I want to remember:

  • Silly new house discussions.  K has requested yellow walls in her new room.  L wants shiny purple walls with glitter (oh my!).  On the way to school the other day, I pointed out the house as we drove past it.  When we pulled into school, K said “Mama! Was that, like, a minute?”  Compared to the drive we have now, it will be a breeze once we get moved!
  • Morning routines.  Right now, most mornings, both girls and I are up and getting ready at the same time.  The other morning, while the girls were downstairs “eating breakfast”, I heard a game of Duck, Duck, Goose going on.  As I listened, Kyndall was “it” and I was wondering how fun this game could possibly be with just the two of them.  All of a sudden, Libby bursts out with “PICK ME!! PLEASE pick me!”  I mean, seriously, who else was she going to pick?
  •  Kyndall learning to sing the New Testament Books of the Bible. 
Can I just say that I am absolutely, heart-achingly in love with my life?  It is hectic and frazzly and chaotic and I wouldn’t change a single, non-stop minute of it.  Thank you, God. Thank you, thank you, thank you.